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Church of England's General synod debates environmental issues

12 February 2014

General Synod re-affirms the Church of England's commitment to
play a leading role in the effort to prevent dangerous climate
change

General Synod today voted in favour of a motion, brought by the
Diocese of Southwark, which re-affirms the Church of England's
commitment to play a leading role in the effort to prevent
dangerous climate change, including through the Church's ethical
investment activities.

The passing of the motion makes clear Synod's desire that the
Church's National Investing Bodies continually ensure that their
investment policies are 'aligned with the theological, moral and
social priorities' of the Church on climate change.

The investing bodies adopted an ethical investment policy on
climate change in 2008 but such is the EIAG's concern about trends
in greenhouse gas emissions that the policy is already under
review.

The motion was proposed by Canon Giles Goddard, Priest in Charge
of St John's Church, Waterloo, in the Diocese of Southwark.
It does not prescribe how the Church of England should align its
investment practice with the Church's stance on climate change nor
does it back the calls of some US environmentalists for complete
disinvestment from fossil fuel companies. However, the motion
does call for the merits of the exclusion of some companies from
investment to be considered as one of the ethical investment tools
available to the EIAG.

The Rev Prof Richard Burridge, Deputy Chair of the EIAG, who spoke
after Canon Goddard in the debate and supported the motion, said:
"There are many ways of practising ethical investment including
active engagement with companies and policy makers. Carbon
emissions remain so embedded in our economic system that the EIAG's
ethical investment policy recommendation will need to be
sophisticated. The Synod vote for this motion affirms the
will of Synod that the Church of England treats climate change as
an urgent ethical issue of the utmost importance, including in its
practice of ethical investment."

Professor Burridge said in the course of the debate that the
National Investing Bodies would publish a new policy on climate
change in 2015 once the EIAG had completed its review in 2014 and
the investing bodies had had a chance to consider the EIAG's
recommendations.

As a result of the motion, the Church will also be reviewing
organisational arrangements for co-ordinating and developing the
Church's strategic and local response to climate change.*

ENDS

Notes

* An amendment to the motion (leaving out paragraph (e)(iii) in
the original motion) was passed, which requested:

"the Archbishops' Council to reconstitute the Shrinking the
Footprint working group, so that it reports direct to the Council,
to monitor, facilitate co-ordination and promote the responses of
all parts of the Church of England to environmental
challenges."

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